MotoGP Thailand GP: Jorge Martin Tops First Practice, Title Leader Bagnaia Finishes Tenth

MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix's first-day practice was topped by Pramac's Jorge Martin, but championship leader Francesco Bagnaia struggled and ended up 10th. Despite being 27 points behind championship leader Pecco Bagnaia, Martin put in a solid performance throughout the whole round. He spent the majority of the practice in third place, just 0.011 seconds behind the leader, Maverick Vinales, and a paltry 0.009 seconds behind Alex Marquez, who was in second place.

Martin, however, made a calculated call by going with the softer of the two possible rear compounds this weekend, the "medium," which equates to last year's "soft" tyre. He was able to secure his position at the top with ease thanks to his choice. His first flying lap of the stint was the fastest, and his second lap time of 1 minute, 30.520 seconds cemented his position as the session's fastest rider.

Only Martin and Vinales were able to break into the 1-minute 30-second area by the time the practice session came to a close, with Vinales making use of a brand-new hard rear tyre to come within a quarter of a second of Martin's mark.

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MotoGP Thailand GP: Free Practice Nr. 1 Result

Jack Miller and Brad Binder, the two riders of the factory KTM squad, had a lacklustre practice session, finishing 13th and 14th, respectively, more than a second behind the leader. Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, who raced together with VR46 and finished in 15th and 16th places, also had a difficult race. After a difficult session, Marc Marquez finished in 18th place on the factory Honda, with teammate Joan Mir following closely behind him in 20th.

Steady boys! It's only a practice start session! #ThaiGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/GBKCyZoPXs

— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) October 27, 2023

LCR's Takaaki Nakagami rode the top-finishing Honda, and he finished 11th overall. Note that Nakagami is LCR's only representative this weekend after Alex Rins withdrew due to soreness after having surgery to fix a hernia in his still-recovering right leg.

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Aside from a few dramatic moments, the practice went relatively smoothly. Twelve-place finisher Fabio Quartararo was frustrated with himself for making a mistake at Turn 4 while trying to speed up his laps. Brad Binder and Marc Marquez both had some rough practice starts following the session, but they eventually got it right.